


Shane be like: demon noises

by LILAC3141592



Category: Buzzfeed Unsolved (Web Series)
Genre: Body Horror, Canon Compliant, Demon Shane Madej, Oop!, Protective Shane Madej, Scared Ryan Bergara, Shane Madej Being an Idiot, Violence, again only slightly, but one dude is a demon, can be read as shyan but written as platonic, dennys babey, enter: dumbass, guys being dudes, its all g homies, only slightly, sooo
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-31
Updated: 2020-04-27
Packaged: 2021-02-28 17:15:30
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 6,470
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23410804
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LILAC3141592/pseuds/LILAC3141592
Summary: Okay, in hindsight, this was a bad idea. Shane knew from the moment Ryan mentioned it, the foreboding bubbled up in his stomach, heavy. Of course, being a self-proclaimed idiot, he let the events unfold before him.on a case, Shane is forced to reveal his secret,
Relationships: Ryan Bergara & Shane Madej, Ryan Bergara/Shane Madej
Comments: 30
Kudos: 804





	1. a foreboding feeling

Okay, in hindsight, this was a bad idea. Shane knew from the moment Ryan mentioned it, the foreboding bubbled up in his stomach, heavy. Of course, being a self-proclaimed idiot, he let the events unfold before him.  
\-----  
An unidentified sound spoke Shane from his trance, he had been staring at the screen from lunch till now, typing a few sentences every minute before getting lost in his dream world. 

In his imagination he saw Ryan, and him, obviously. They were standing outside one of their more recent locations, every time he had this fantasy the setting changed. Ryan had two hands on his head. The shorter man had to stand on his tippy-toes to reach that high, something Shane found oddly endearing. 

Ryan was grinning, one of those unforgiving smiles he gave when Shane had said something particularly outlandish or stupid. His nose scrunched up and his eyes creased. His mouth was moving but no sound left it. Ryan's hands stopped at the base of Shane's horns, starting just above the ear.

 _Oh_. yeah. Shane has horns, and black eyes, and demon wings. 

Most humans couldn't see any of his… _extra appendages_. Sure, a few people gave him odd looks sometimes. They would look at him and see, for less than a second, a horn. Or they would notice that his pupil seemed to engulf his entire eye. For a second they would see something otherworldly. Within five seconds they would brush it off as a trick of the light, within five minutes they would be occupied with something far more important, within five days the experience would be completely forgotten, only to come back in the early hours of the morning, when their thought wont shut the _fuck up._

It would be almost insulting how much Shane fit the stereotype of a demon if he wasn't in fact, a demon. All that was missing was an arrow tail, and maybe a forked tongue. Shane differed from the stereotypical hollywood demons in that, he didn't actually want to wreak havoc on unsuspecting people. Sure, maybe in the past, but he was a changed man. Shane was a low level demon, he could only cause destruction if he really tried, put his all into it. Most of the time he just couldn't be bothered, that and, he might have developed some morals.

In his fantasy he saw Ryan, not scared or uneasy, he saw him accepting. 

And that's why it was a fantasy. 

Shane didn't want to lie to Ryan, it hurt him but the second Ryan found out about Shane's, ‘little secret’ he would have a meltdown, maybe try to smite him. Shane was sure of it.  
Those scenarios had plagued his mind just as much as the nice ones.

The unidentified sound from earlier turned out to be the subject of fantasies. Ryan bounded across the office, laptop in hand, with the aforementioned smile painted on his face. Shane turned to fully acknowledge him when he was at Shane's desk. He wore dark blue jeans, cuffed at the bottom. He paired this with a simple button up that cut off at the biceps.

He turned the laptop to show Shane, looking at him expectantly.

“For next episode,” he said. “Yay or nay?”

At the mere sight of the house Shane's heart (believe it or not he did have one of those) began thundering in his chest. He feigned carelessness when he said “ sounds good” and proceed to ask rudimentary questions such as,

“Where is it?”

“Why?”

“Will we need to stop for adult diapers?" ok, so this one isn't as rudimentary. Shane's mouth lifted slightly as he saw Ryan's face drop. If fascinated Shane by how quickly Ryan could go from upbeat and giddy to sarcastic and quick-witted. 

“Oh yeah” Ryan said “we’ll pick up your laxatives on the way then?” Shane's pursed his lips in an effort not to smile. The left corner of the shorter man's mouth raised.

Shane made eye contact “great plan, my man”.

Ryan snickered “you’re so full of shit dude” and with that he turned and walked from whence he came.

“Yeah” Shane yelled across the office, sitting up slightly in his chair, “that's why we’re getting laxatives” he heard Ryan cackle and watched as he walked out of sight. Shane sat back in his chair. Some of his surrounding employees, he had almost forgotten they were there, looked at him bemused, Shane gave them the “white person smile” and that seemed to satisfy.

Shane spun in his chair to face his desk and within five minutes his work had been forgotten and his fantasies occupied his mind once again. He tried really hard to ignore the weight in his stomach, he tried really hard.


	2. tired bois

By the following week Shane had almost forgotten about his uneasiness, it was just another memory.

It was just past four in the morning. Shane was tired, not the normal type of tiredness any human experiences. A bone-crushing weight preying on his brain, making it unable for him to catch those, ever-escaping zzzz’s. 

Being a demon definitely had its downsides. The more power one had, the more their bad feelings were amplified. Shane wasn't the most powerful demon, something he was constantly reminded of in early life, but it still took a toll on him. 

Hence the terrible tiredness.

It had been a long week, he supposed. This was his break. 

God knows why Ryan booked their flight for the early hours of the morning where only soccer mums and fitness geeks were up at, God knows why Shane had to be driving at 3am, God knows why he is in an airport terminal, half-conscious,standing in line to buy Ryan a coffee from one of the shitest caffine establishments the world has had the displeasure of seeing. but hey, whatever made Ryan happy.

It had its positives, Shane supposed. Yes, one would be right in saying that his face felt like melting off. Correct, his legs do feel like being disconnected from his body, thanks for asking. And yes, he had a headache that felt like Lucifer had greeted him personally with a battering ram to the noggin (that may or may not be based on true events).

But,

Nothing beats wandering around the streets looking for the right entrance, high of sleep-deprevation, wispering stupid quips in Ryans ear he would forget after he said them and seeing Ryan trying to form a half-logical thought after exactly 57 minutes of sleep. This followed with Shane either mocking him or saying something equally idiodic. 

“Sir?” the barista asked. Shane let her voice bring him back to reality. He realised that, the entire time he had been staring at the board behind her head, eyes glazed over and an odd smirk on his face. 

“What can i get you today sir?” she was probably used to airport weirdos at this point, Shanes brain supplied. He rattled off his and Ryan's coffee order and stood to the side, awaiting his oh-so-precious caffeine.

With coffee in hand, he slugged his way back to Ryans seat. His co-host sat in a way that Shane knew would have him complaining about his back pain. He was seated in a way that reminded Shane of english monarchs, sleepy and albeit a little silly english monarchs.  
Shane admired the sight before making his presence known with a loud sigh and a harsh scrape of the chair across the floor as he sat down. 

Ryan looked up, eyes bleary, giving him a soft smile before snatching a coffee cup and taking a large swig. He placed the coffee cup on the table and grimaced. Shane, aware of his mistake, chuckled. 

“Wrong one?” Shane stated, letting his voice become a little more fond, blame it on the sleep-deprivation. 

Ryan looked at him with betrayal. “T-the fact that you think so low of me Shane '' he let his voice deepen on ‘low’ `is trul- it’s a true testament to your character '' Ryan locked eyes with Shane, trying his best to make his eyes look sorrowful. Let the record know that he tried to keep a straight face, he gave it his all, but in the end, one corner of his mouth might have lifted.

Shane just smiled at him and swapped the cups around.  
\-----  
Somehow, at 5:15 am Shane had been able to bring himself to his feet, shaking his friend awake and haul them both to their plane and sit themselves down. Ryan had fallen back asleep. Shane was jealous of how quickly his friend could fall asleep, of course he could only do this when creartin that the walls surrounding him didn’t inhabit ghosts or demons. Shane didn't sleep. He watched.

Okay, he will admit, that's some edward-cullen-creepy-shit but he had his reasons, he was in emotional turmoil. Shane knew that he couldn't keep his act up forever. He also knew that one day he might not be able to protect his friend anymore.

Most of the places Ryan and Shane become acquainted with are usually occupied by harmless ghosts or low level demons, even lower than Shane. If anything truly powerful were once there they would have run off to bother some other unfortunate souls. When at locations Shane sometimes sends out a little blast of energy, just to make his presence known, to tell all to formaly _fuck off_. His request is always respected. 

Shane knows, with horrifying reality, that one day they might run into something a little past his pay grade. One day. 

It was like walking through a minefield. 

He hoped that when the hiccup came he would take down whatever shithead wanted to mess with them that day, tell Ryan. maybe he’d understand, maybe he’d want to stay friends with a damned immortal being and not run off screaming, have a mental break and have to be permitted into a mental istutution, living out the rest of his days in a room made of fucking mattresess. 

Shane could be positive sometimes, sue him.

Shane turned his big-old noggin to look at Ryan. He had pulled out his laptop and plugged in his headphones. His screen was split into two.

On one side Ryan had some odd superhero movie playing, if Shane was honest he would say it looked a little stupid.

On the other side he had an article pulled up titled as such:

**Lee family tells all! A story of supernatural possession in suburban America.**

He was no doubt doing some last-minute reading before the case, it didn't seem to be working, as every few sentences his eyes would catch on the movie and be engrossed in the gratuitos alien punching.

The man _cannot_ multitask.

In further investigation Shane began to doubt the validity of the article as it was posted on a site that showed dodgy ads like ‘matureageating.com, old is better” and ‘how this woman cured her cancer with sunflower seeds, placenta and dog spit’. There was no picture of the author, or last name.

Definitely dodgy, Shane concluded.

But nothing could put to rest the weight that settled in his stomach when he thought of their next adventure, the bile that clogged his throat.  
He didn't know why he started speaking.

“Ry?” the other man didn't look up. Shane cleared his throat. “Ryan”. He looked up, and quickly yanked out his earphones.

“Yeah, big guy?” 

Shane looked down. “You believe in like, superstition, gut feelings n shit?” 

Ryan's voice stuttered “yeah, I guess”

“Do you uh” Shane paused “feel odd about this place?”  
Ryan eyed him, this was not the Shane he was used to seeing. In that moment Ryan was certain he could see apprehension in his eyes, maybe fear. 

“Mh not really, why’d you ask?” Ryan kept his voice high. 

Shane sighed deeply. If Ryan, who jumped at wind, who worried about nearly any case, who was basically a barely 5,9 bundle of anxiety, was fine, then Shane was as well. “Just checking in man”

Ryan regarded him for a moment before putting his earphones back in, touching Shane lightly on the shoulder and scrolling through the previous article. He came to a photo of the family. One mother. One father. Two identical boys. They looked young, no older than twelve. They both looked into the camera, smiling with glee, wearing matching outfits, that's basically a requirement of having twins. The only difference between the two was one had messier hair. They were both happy but the boy with messier hair had a smile that stretched too wide, almost uncanny, he looked dead into the camera. 

Shane brushed it off. He was tired, he had a headache. Is he really going to start fretting over a twelve year olds smile?

No. Shane decided. He wasn't. 

In between the rustle of people boarding the flight and the warmth of Ryan next to him, Shane let sleep take him. 

Ryan, once again engrossed in his movie, kept the other window on the picture of the family. The smile grew, just a little.


	3. enter: big demon boy

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ay sorry for the late update, I wrecked my laptop a little, making me unable to write for a bit, turns out _I'm_ the self-proclaimed dumb ass

Shane was wrong to brush it off, so fucking wrong. Standing outside of that colonial house in the middle of nowhere he felt something he had not felt in a long time, fear. The feeling might be having an effect on Ryan as he stood next to Shane, with that glint in his eye that has become a staple for every episode they shoot.

Shane was ready to pack up and skedaddle, Ryan in tow. But they had come all this way, and since when did Shane Madej back down from anything. 

He turned to his friend. “Gotta go in one day, dude”. Ryan didn't even look at him. The door needed a push or too but they made it in, to Shane's displeasure. 

The house was musty, the air was oddly humid and everything seemed to smell of rotten eggs. 

Ryan made a B-line straight for the kitchen table and opened his bag. The bag consisted of 

One voice recorder

One EMF detector

One spirit box

At least five flashlights

Extra batteries

One motion sensor

Extra, extra batteries

His little water gun of holy water, it had started as a joke but it had quickly become a necessary object. Shane grimaced every time he saw it.

And, a new addition, one gigantic bag of salt. Shane would admit, he made many obviously funny jokes comparing the size of the bag to his dear little old friend but he felt that now perhaps wasn't the best time. 

Shane paused for a second, looking at his friends back, he walked up to him. “Hey man” he started, softer than usual, “if you wanna leave-”

“Are you _kidding dude?_ ” Ryan turned to him, his grin covering at least 50% of his face. “Were gonna get so much shit tonight” He snickered, “it’s gonna be awesome”

Shane, taken aback, let out an objectively weird giggle. Ryan and the entirety of the internet would surely describe it as just a little too manic. Ryan, a smirk faint on his lips, turned to clip his water gun to his pants and pulled his shirt over it, obscuring Shane's view. Looking entirely too serious for what the smaller man thought was a normal ghost hunt. 

Shane, noting that the tension in the room had all but killed itself, proceeded to let out a gargled laugh. Ryan looked at him, feigning hurt.

With his eyes crinkled, holding back chuckles he said “im sor- oh my god- u look-” he laughing cut him off again, Ryan waited expectantly. “You look- you look like you should be in some bad cop show” Shane let out. “Like, one with a budget of barely $40”

Ryan walked forward, in a silly way that told Shane he was doing a bit. He then looked at Shane over his shoulder, turned a little and lifted his shirt to show his water gun. “You know I keep that _thang_ on me” Shane's shoulders moved up and down when he laughed. 

\-----

A boy with curly hair stood in the corner of the room. He had been noticed when the man and the demon walked in, but forgotten soon after. He saw how hard the demon was trying to hide, but it was easy to push past the cover and see what he truly was. 

The way they engaged reminded him of his brother. He had straight hair, this was the only way their parents seemed to be able to tell them apart. Memories are faint these days.

He could remember his family choosing his brother first.

The rage that built in those moments.

Being told by something both solid and transparent that in order for his parents to like him more he needed to get rid of the competition. 

Following its orders, throwing his brother down the steps, bringing him into their shared bedroom, drawing circles and symbols on his chest, saying words he didn't know the meaning of. 

The figure rising out of his brother's chest, ripping him in two. The figure became solid, walked towards him and stepped inside. 

He lost control then, he had only wanted attention so the burning jealousy in his chest would stop. This thing inside him only amplified those feelings.

Killing his mum, she didn't even try and get up when he stabbed her.

Waiting at the front door for his father to come home, he was a bit harder. His father had begged him to stop, telling him “this isn't my little boy”. He was right. For a few seconds he had control. He pulled back and his father breathed deeply. The figure came back and plunged the knife between his ribs. 

The police came and went.

He could remember the important bits. 

He looked at the man and the lousy excuse for a demon and felt the figure lurch.

\-----

Shane sat cross legged on the floor whilst Ryan fiddled with the camera. Ever the perfectionist it took him way too long to find a angle he liked.

“Come on, dude” Shane whined, “you gotta tell me how the family got brutally mudrereddddddd”.

Ryan, with his back to Shane, muttered something like ‘weirdo’ before turning on the camera and sitting parallel to Shane on the floor. 

“Okay so” Shane leaned forward, eager to hear. “About fifteen years ago, this kid, around ten years old. I think his name was Thompson, he wakes up one morning and decides ‘hey, you know what I wanna do today? Kill my entire family”

“I'm sorry, his entire family, mum and dad too?”

“Mum and dad too”

“How the hell” Shane asked "does a ten year old over power two grow adults?”

“Cocaine” Ryan answers “mass amounts of cocaine, or speed, or steroids”

Shane splutters, bringing one hand to prop up his head. “Okay, now I'm just imagining, like, a fully jacked ten year old. Like, his head is normal but his chest just _protrudes_ ” 

“and his got little sticks for legs” Ryan adds “just all top heavy” 

Shane laughs, putting a hand on his stomach. He had felt better when Ryan had begun to feel better. It’s almost like he cared about him or something.

 _How scandalous,_ Shane thought.

Ryan had his head thrown back, his giggles had evolved into full on hysteria and he kept on making motions with his fingers that Shane guessed were supposed to mimic the kids little legs. Every time he did it another laugh escaped. Shane just watched. 

Shane liked to take mental pictures of moments like these, knowing soon that he would have to give them up. He wondered if it was possible to feel longing for moments that haven't passed yet.

 _Yes._ he thought. _It was._

“That's not the worst part” Ryan said as his laughing began to cool down. “They uh- they found his twin brother, sawed in two with demonic symbols on his chest” he paused. “Well, whatever was left”. 

_Demonic symbols,_ Shane's mind offered _just what I needed._ That familiar feeling began clawing its way up Shane's spine.

“Ooh, seems like a riot” Shane offered a weak smile. it was far too easy to relax with Ryan, worryingly so. But every inkling of something wrong set him off like fire meeting gasoline. 

Ryan, checking that they were still rolling, brought out the spirit box. 

It wasn't there one moment and then it was. Directly behind Ryan was the little boy with the curly hair. He looked exactly as his did in the picture, the same smile graced his lips. It was an odd amalgamation of human and demon. In seconds Shane pieced everything together. 

He made a noise of protest, grabbing his friend and pulling him close. Ryan scrambled against him. 

“What the _fuck_ Shane?” but he didn't say anything, the boy had vanished with the suggestion of more fun. 

The power he had felt radiate of it was more than he had felt at any previous investigation and that scared him. A lot.

“Dude I'm sorry, I-i thought I said something, '' he sputtered.

Ryan regarded him, he apparently decided in that time that Shane was not capable of genuine emotion because he then states “stop fucking with me dude, you know you're not funny right?”

Shane looked down at his friend, as he pulled himself away from his grasp. 

“Right” he muttered. “Sorry” he looked around in hopes of finding the boy but his wishes fell on deaf ears. 

Ryan thought he was _joking._

He could still save this. Keep up his act.

He just needed to get through tonight without incident and Ryan would be none the wiser to what Shane was. 

He replayed the boys entrance over and over again in his mind; _he just needed to get through tonight._


	4. hoedown throwdown babeyy

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ahh its the final chapter!!! i hope y'all have enjoyed this as much as I liked writing it!
> 
> that you for reading :)

“-ve to go first” Ryan turned to Shane, noticing that he  _ clearly _ weren't listening. 

“Dude,” Ryan said, punching his friend in the arm. Shane realising his mistake, muttered a small, “sorry dude” he tried to lighten the conversation by saying “must have been something in the coffee”. By the way that Ryan was looking at him it was evident that this tactic had _not_ worked. 

“Anyway” Ryan started “what I was saying before you got all-” he made a waving gesture “weird, is that you” he paused, a small smirk growing on his face “have to go first” 

“For what?” Ryan gestured to the basement and gave him a shit-eating grin. Ryan was trying, Shane admired it, to keep up the ‘playful’ vibe that followed them in many of their adventures. 

After what Shane had dubbed as simply ‘The Incident’ the supernatural activity had severely diminished but he knew better.

Shane raised an eyebrow at Ryan, a perfect picture of sarcasm. 

“Come on man” Ryan whined. “You can't expect  _ me” _ his voice was accusatory, “to be the brave one” Ryan talked with his hands sometimes, something that Shane had begun to notice more often. Apart from being outrageously silly, watching the short man wave his arms in hysteria, he also found it to be one of the many little quirks he liked about him. 

“I think it will be better for us to go together, like, we can still do separate investigations but like, i’ll be close by” Shane stuttered “f-for the banter” he let out a weak chuckle, trying to keep an air of normalcy but Ryan wasn't stupid. 

Outlandish. Yes

Ludicrous. Unfortunately.   
  


But not stupid. He knew something was up, even if he didn't want to acknowledge it.

“Okay,” Ryan said at a mere whisper. “Alright” 

Ryan followed Shane down into the basement. The steps were covered in carpet, making their footfalls quiet. Neither of them said a word.

The entrance to the basement was dark.

_ What a shocker _ Shane thought.

The room was dark in a way that made one think seeing the light wasn't an option anymore.

That was until Ryan, the bastard, flicked on the light, stopping Shane's depressing thoughts in its tracks.

“Hey,” Ryan said, his voice high and surprised. “This isn't too bad'' Shane regarded the room. The basement was split into two rooms without a door in between. It seemed to only be used for storage and around them were piles upon piles of boxes. Shane only hummed in response. He really wanted to leave.

To be honest, Shane didn't know if he had the power to protect Ryan against this Thing. His powers had lain dormant for so long he worried they wouldn't rise to greet him again. That scared him.

_ A lot. _

At this point Ryan had begun to rummage through the boxes closest to him. After a few seconds he brought out a small batman figurine.

“Look Shane” he turned “it’s you” Ryan held the figurine in front of his face. He then proceeded to do the worst impersonation of Batman in all of known history, sounding more like a man with lung cancer than the Dark Knight saying “I believe you believe” he repeated this a few times before Shane let himself laugh. 

He walked up to his friend “you're special Ryan, emphasis on ‘special’”. it was his attempt at joke and Ryan appreciated it. Shane pet Ryan on the shoulder before moving to the next room.

Ryan quickly followed.

As soon as Shane's head passed through the doorway it became unbearably hot for a mere millisecond, before the temperature plummeted, making his heart drop in his stomach. 

He turned in time just to see Ryan, wide eyed and  _ really fucking scared _ before a force slammed both men into the walls of the opposite rooms. 

Shane watched as Ryan's back smacked against the wall, making an ugly thumping noise. Shane's heart raced in his chest. The pure adrenaline flooding his nervous system made it quite easy to ignore how he may have cracked his skull and how his neck had met the wall at an odd angle, damaging his neck in a way that would have been fatal of a majority of humans. 

_ This it is _

_ This is where it happens _

He felt like crying, maybe he already was. He wasn't sure

Against everything he wanted, he opened his eyes. 

The boy crouched, hugging his knees in the space underneath the doorway. He held a bag of salt, making eye contact as it spilt into the floor until a thick line of salt lay between the two men. He was careful not to spill it on himself. Shane knew how much it burned.

The boy's face contorted into a smile that looked more like a grimace before he disappeared completely.

_ Shit shit shit _

The walls of the basement were rock and unfortunately Shane's powers did not extend to transportation. There was no way out of the room.

Apart from the doorway.

_ Shit.  _

“R-” he choked out. His friend opened his eyes, finding Shane's. 

“Shane” Ryan spluttered “oh my- fuc- oh my  _ god” _ Shane moved to get up and Ryan copied him. They met in the middle. Ryan, so worried for his friend, didn't even notice the line of salt. 

“Oh my god Shane, are you okay, are you hurt, oh- shit” 

Shane put his hands on Ryan's shoulders. “I'm fine,  _ I'm fine”  _ he stressed. Ryan seemed to be in the same place as Shane in the pain department, in the ‘a-little-banged-up-but-running-on-pure-goddamn-fear’ place.

Shane pulled Ryan into his arms for a few seconds, it seemed like the logical thing to do. What else is there to do when your friend is about one minute away from a fully fledged panic attack? 

“Come on” Ryan spoke, removing himself from Shane, “there's no way i'm staying in this death trap any longer”. With his eyes cast downwards Ryan searched for his wallet and phone, both having been thrown to God knows were. 

Shane didn't move.

Ryan, having found his belongings, pocketed them and moved towards the door. He stopped, realising his friend wasn't following. 

“Shane?” he questioned, now fully noticing the line of salt. He brought his hands up to rub his face “Now isn't really a good time for that stuff, come ‘ere”.

Shane stayed exactly where he was, he hands began to shake. 

“Hey Ry, humour me for a sec, move the salt for me?” his voice was wavering and if Ryan hadn't been focused on what Shane was saying he would have missed it. Ryan stepped closer. 

“Shane” he whispered “what the hell ma-”

“Please, I'll explain later” Shane's eyes met Ryan's and, for one second his eyes turned black. 

“No way dude” here was the previously mentioned panic attack rearing its head “no fuckin’ way” Ryan stood shell shocked in the centre of the room. He looked, scared

_ Dear fucking shit, Ryan is scared of me _

The worst thing was that Shane could feel it, the uncontrollable fear and uncertainty practically radiating off the smaller man. He always had some nervous energy at cases but knowing that he caused it? It hurt Shane deeply. 

Something appeared in the corner of the room. Something only he could see. 

“Ryan,” Shane said, panicked. “Come to me”

The boy walked forward. Ryan just needed to step over the line and maybe, just maybe, Shane could help him.

“Are you fucking kidding me?, I don't know who you are”

The boy began to do little side steps, edging towards his friend, he knew he could take all the time in the world to get to Ryan and Shane could do nothing about it. 

“Please Ryan” Shane begged “please, please, please”

The boy made his way up to Ryan and Shane watched as he was dragged out of the room. The door slammed shut with a definitive bang. Shane had watched as Ryan looked at him, desperation evident and Shane could only stand there. 

_ Useless _ he thought,  _ useless. Useless. Useless. _

Shane didn't hear much after that. Somehow that made it worse.

He fell to his knees, slightly touching the outskirts of the salt line. It burnt small holes in his legs, little pinpricks of pain. 

_ Of course this is how it ended _

There were three ways this could go in Shane's mind

  1. Shane, in some fantastical way, saves Ryan. He and his friend run out of the building and Ryan tells him that he accepts him and is not scared anymore. They rebuild their relationship slowly but surely. They would still go on calls and Ryan would look at Shane and know that he has his back.
  2. Shane, in a less fantastical way, saves Ryan. They both get out alive. Ryan leaves him but he continues his life, gets a new best-friend and forgets about it. Fans would ask Ryan where Shane went and he would always respond with some vague answer. Shane would check up on Ryan sometimes, only when the loneliness gets really bad and make sure he lives a relatively normal, happy life.
  3. Ryan dies.



Shane doesn't like thinking about the third one.

A small tapping sound brings Shane back to reality. 

For a second he thinks the boy had come back and he felt his heart lurch. 

But it wasn't him. He looked exactly like the boy from before. The one difference being his straight hair. It fell in his eyes, unlike the others that wound tightly on his head.

His stomach was also torn open, forgot to mention. 

Around the scarred skin were remnants of red paint, arranged into symbols Shane knew well.

“Hey” Shane said softly. “Sorry about” he gestured to his stomach and cringed, “that, sucks”

He shook his head before walking up too Shane, feet almost touching the line of salt. 

“No, no, no, hurts” he looked at Shane, crouching down to where Shane sat on his knees. He tilted his head in question before giving Shane a small smile. Although, as kindly as you can say, he was dead, the warmth never seemed to leave his eyes.

He didn't take those eyes off Shane before he slid one figure through the line of salt. His scream was at a frequency humans couldn't hear and Shane  _ knew  _ it hurt, the salt vaporised whatever form he clung to. The demon slapped his hands over his ears to muffle the sounds. 

Then he was gone. But now there was a gap in the line. Shane looked upwards. He didn't know how to thank him. 

Shane warily stepped over the line and made his way to the door. He didn't know how much damage the boy had done but hell if he was going to let it continue.

He quietly made his way up the steps. He searched the kitchen, lounge room and bedrooms. The panic picked up with each minute. He checked the dining room, not expecting them to  _ actually  _ be there and had to slap a hand across his mouth to stop him from crying out. 

Ryan was splayed across the dining room table, knocked out. The boy danced around him, humming classic songs. Ryan's shirt had been torn off and the boy had begun to decorate his chest with the same symbols of his twin's chest.

Shane pictured the hole in the middle of the twins' stomach. The outside skin had scared and begun to dirty but the inside of the wound was fresh, a constant stinging pain.

_ God _

_ He was trying to use  _ _Ryan_ for what Shane did not know, in all honesty he didn't care. At that second all he cared about was the friend he had met on a terribly boring day in the office. The friend who counterattacked his shitty sense of humour with  _ even more _ bullshit. The friend who matched him word for word but still knew when to stop. The friend who currently lay under the hands of something hell would take with open arms.

On the same table was the salt the boy had used earlier, placed down in a careless rush to start whatever the hell he was doing and consequently forgotten about.

“Hey dipshit!” Shane yelled. He grabbed the closest item of furniture which happened to be a delicately crafted chair. Shane felt sorry for the neighbours who, in a few hours time will wake up to police searching the house for suspicious activity, thinking addicts had used the house as a base. At this point though he could barely think a few minutes into the future. The chair smashed against the wall and the boy's image flickers before disappearing. 

High ranking demons like the boy, unfortunately, had the power of teleportation. A gift Shane was  _ not _ handed when he became a good old hell-raiser. 

Shane scurried into the room, picking up the bag of salt, careful to not get any on his hands. 

_Ryan's_ _ holy water would be really good right about now _ .

The boy's image flickered back in the centre of the room, Shane moved to attack but before anything happened he was gone again. Shane walked to where the boy was seconds ago, gripping the bag so tightly his knuckles turned white. 

A loud noise came from behind Shane, he turned in heartbeat to see the boy towering over Ryan, looking cartoonishly evil. He disappeared with a childish giggle.

_ He is fucking messing with me _

The boy disappeared multiple times. He would appear in Shane's peripheral vision, taunting him to do something, teasing him.

He slowly let the power build, something he thought he had lost. He drew it from the depths of his guts and let it spill into his lungs. It worked its way down his arms, the tips of his fingers pricking and tingling. 

The boy would get tired of playing soon and go in for the kill.

The boy appeared in front of him, he was bored with Shane. He moved in a way that Shane knew if he didn't do something in about 2.5 seconds he would turn to ash and scatter on the floor like in all of the Loony Tunes cartoons he liked to watch on his days off. 

Shane ducked before a blast could hit him. He cleared his mind and let every negative feeling from himself and others he accumulated over his dormant years flow out of his fingertips. It slammed the boy into the wall just as he had done to them.

Shane's heart raced in his chest. Smoke rose out of his hands.

The boy was dead to the world, slumped on the floor, Shane knew that he would soon wake up, ready to feast on whatever poor sucker made this place his home. Unlike Shane, the salt would  _ not _ vaporise him on impact if someone  _ hypothetically poured salt into his stomach.  _

it would, however, buy the attacker some time. Time was all Shane needed. He walked up to the boy, careful not to disturb him, opened his mouth and began to pour salt in. the stench of burning flesh filled the air.

Shane carried Ryan outside.

\-----

Ryan must have been  _ really _ burnt out because it took a good few minutes of gentle shaking, poking and a little bit of demonic manipulation to wake him up.

His vision was blurry and for a moment, he forgot what had transpired the last few hours. He came to his senses when he looked down at his chest to find half-finished demonic sigils. 

“What. the. Fuck?” Ryan turned to Shane. “So you're a-?”

“Demon?” Shane cut him off. “Yes and I'm sorry I- I- I should have told you and I should have been there and this wasn't the way it was supposed to go’ Shane was edging on frantic. “I understand if you don't wanna be my friend anymore and I understand if you want me to leave. I can try and wipe your memory, I don't know, hey it's been done, I never meant for you to find out this way an-”

“Dude” Shane shut up “lemme see” Ryan gestured vaguely to Shane's head. The taller man frowned.

“You know all demons don't have horns right?, that's a harmful stereotype based on cartoons n' media n’ shit” Ryan narrowed his eyes, staring Shane in the head.

Shane buckled under the pressure and let part of his glamour fade, uncovering his horns. They were kind of average, nothing to write home about. Ryan lifted one hand to feel the place where it protruded. He patted Shane's head a few times.

“This is fuckin’ weird” Ryan stated, like he wasn't almost murdered, like his best-friend wasn't a full-on _demon_. “I saw a Denny's a few minutes out when we came in, come on, you have lotta’ talking to do”

\-----

A tall man with horns flickering in and out of existence and a short man, shirtless, covered in demonic sigils, both looking tired out of their minds, stumble into Denny's at precisely 4:24 am. It's nothing the staff haven't already seen.


End file.
